Droughts

The cost of a lamb leg in the shops has nearly doubled in the past 18 months as the drought bites.

Despite battling the drought herself, South Australian farmer Bridget Woods dipped into her own superannuation to buy fodder in bulk for others in her community who are struggling to feed livestock.

Scientists say one of the Northern Territory's most important water systems is experiencing "significant depletion".

As the atrocities in Gaza continue, another crisis is enveloping the Middle East — as record heat, drought and wildfires open up another devastating front.

One of the nation's biggest food businesses has scaled back operations at its Adelaide Hills site as the state battles the impact of ongoing drought.

Welcome rain has brought smiles to farmers' faces and boosted water storages in Victoria.

A truck convoy that brought more than 6,000 bales of hay from WA to drought-stricken SA has begun making drop-offs and deliveries — and while farmers remain in need of more rain, the mood on their properties is being boosted.

Ballooning water prices in Australia's largest wine grape growing region are pushing farmers to the brink amid a global oversupply of some wines and ongoing drought in southern Australia.

Rain brings some relief to drought-affected farmers in Victoria, but most of the state is still desperately dry.

The pressure from a lack of rain, feral goats, and kangaroos forces graziers across rural New South Wales to destock their properties. 

Recent rain in southern New South Wales has put water in dams and given paddocks a healthier tinge, but farmers say the drought is far from over and they need financial assistance.

Australia's sheep flock continues to decrease due to drought, with ewe numbers expected to drop 9 per cent over the next year.

RSPCA inspectors collect 131 animals, including 30 dogs at a single location, in "multiple large-scale animal cruelty operations" across the state, saying animal owners are struggling with drought conditions and cost-of-living pressures.

Grazier Boyd Webb is running an outback cropping experiment to get him through the next drought, growing sorghum to bury as insurance against the next big dry.  

The Victorian government has unveiled a $75 million addition to its drought relief funding measures, including household support payments to be managed by the CWA, rate and red-tape relief and new water infrastructure. 

Parts of south-west and western Victoria have been experiencing their lowest rainfall since 1900 and climatologists say recent downpours won't be enough to end the drought.

Despite a moratorium on building new dams in the Mount Lofty Ranges since 2013, landholders have built about 400 and enlarged about 300 without approval.

All of SA's agricultural areas are in severe drought but communities dependent on sheep have been hit particularly hard.

In a bid to conserve water, authorities across the state have been forced to move to very unusual winter restrictions.

Crippling debt is growing by the day for drought-stricken South Australian farms with local councils pleading for state government intervention in the form of rate relief subsidies.